Process of making insulating fabrics.



. UNITED stira'rl'iiS PATENT orruon.

, cHAEnEs F. PErEEsON, or scHENE'crA'nY, NEW YORK, assrenoa T GENERALELEo- TRIO COMPANY, A C RPORATION OF NEW YORK.

' To all whom it may concern: I

PROCESS OF MAKING INSULATING FABRICS. f

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

' I Application filed March 27, 1906. Serial NO. 808,261.

Be it knownthat I, CHARLES F. PETERSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady and State of NewYork,'have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes vofMaking Insulating Fabrics, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to insulating material for electrical uses andhas for its object the-provision of an insulating fabric which willreadily adapt itself to a variety of uses and can be manufactured at alow cost with simple machinery and unskilled labor.

The object of my invention is to provide an insulating fabric composedof webs or sheets of fibrous material having insulating material securedbetween them. The material which I propose to use is paper, although, ofcourse, other materials .may be used, if desired. The paper which I havefound most advantageous is what is known as Japanese rice paper and theinsulating material is mica, which is split up into thin laminae. Themica is in small sheets and is laid between the sheets of paper so as tooverlap. As a means of securing the mica and paper together, a goodadhesive gum-which will become tough and preferably insulating whenhardened-is used. I have found that shellac serves my purpose very well.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a flexible traveling support,as, for instance, a belt which is drawn taut. Over this belt I cause asheet of paper to travel at the same speed as that of the belt. Thisgives a firm support for the web of paper. As the paper passes onto the.belt an operator applies a coating of shellacor varnish over the entiresurface, so that the paper is really shellacked fast to the belt. Thebelt travels slowly, so that the operator may fully coat the paper as itpasses. A second operator then applies overlapping fragments of mica tothe pa er, which the shellac will cause to stick f dst. Just as the webleaves the second operator there is superposed a second web of paper fedfrom a roll located over the belt and this is carried along over theother web and at the same speed. A third operator stands just beyondthis roll and a plies a coat of shellac to the upper sur ace of thesecond sheet. This operator also rubs the paper so as to take out allthe wrinkles and excess shellac and -makes a smooth surface. The beltunderneath lends itself to this purpose, as it yields just suflicientlyto obtain the best results. After the sheet passes the last operator itpasses into an oven wherein the volatilematter is driven off and theshellac or other adhesive material hardened. The paper is then woundinto rolls for future use.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated one method of carryingout my invention, but it should be of course understood that variousother methods will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and Ido not in any sense limit my invention to the particular construction ormode of operation shown or described, ex-

which passes over the rollers 11 and 12 and is driven by belt 13, whilea belt-tightener 14 keeps the belt 10 taut. 15 is a roll of material,such as Japanese rice paper, which is located adjacent one end of thebelt 10 so that the material may be passed over the belt which istraveling in the direction of the arrows a b.- The aper is led alongthebelt and travels at the samespeed as the belt, being wound upon a roll16 which is driven by a belt 17 by means of a pulley 18 driven by thebelt 13. A second roll of paper or other material 19 is located midwayof the belt 10, as upon a standard 20, and a roller 21 is arranged so asto substantially con-tact the belt 10. The web of paper is then passedfrom the roll 19, over roller 21, 'and into contact with the belt 10. Anoven 22, which may be of any desired form and heated in any stance,electrically, is provided beyond thetraveling belt 10, so that the websof paper as they leave the belt ass the'rethrough;

The mode of operation'is as follows: The end of the roll of paper 15 ispassed along the belt 10 and started on the roll 16. As the belt 13drives the belt 10 and the roll 16,

desired manner, as, for inthe paper is carried along in front ofoperators stationed at A, B and C. Operator A applies to the paper acoating of shellac or other adhesive material, which may be quicklyaccomplished by means of a brush, although of course other means may beused, as,,for instance,- by means of a spray.

The paper then passes on in front of the operator B, who lays upon theshellacked paper sheets of mica 23 which are preferably caused tooverlap, as shown in Fig. 1. The third operator C'lays the end of theweb of paper from the roll 19 on to the top of the mica and applies asecond coating of shellac, which saturates and strikes through the paperso as to cause it to adhere to the mica and to the lower sheet of paper.Another operator stationed nearby then smoothes the surface of the paperwith a cloth or straight edge, so as to take out all the wrinkles andexcess shellac, makinga smooth fabric, which then passes into the ovenand is dried. The shellac causes the paper and mica to adhere, and,also, adds insulating qualities to the material. The paper is then assedbetween rolls 2a which chills and bar ens the shellac and then wound ona roll 16.

It will be seen that I have produced an insulating fabric which will beuseful for many purposes in the electrical art. It may be used in widesheets, or it may be cut into narrow stri s to be used as tape. It isvery flexible anti tough, while at the same time furnishing all of theinsulating properties of the mica, or other material which forms a partof it. It will of course be understood further that other material thanthe J apanese rice paper may be used and that I do not limit myinvention to the use of a particular adhesive or insulating material,nor to the mode of applying the same, except in so far as the inventionis limited by the scope of the claims annexed to and forming a part ofthis specification.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is,

1. The process of making sheet insulating material which consists inshellacking lappin web 0 material, covering the mica with a second webof material and applying a second coating of shellac.

2. The process ofmaking sheet insulating fragments of mica to acontinuous material which consists in shellacking over lapping fragmentsof mica to a continuous web of paper, covering the mica with a secondweb of paper and applying a second coating of shellac.

3. The process of making sheet insulating material which consists incoating a web of material with adhesive as it passes ovcrLa movingsupport, applying fragments of mica to the Web, covering the mica with asecond web midway of the support, and applying a coating of adhesive tosaid cover.

4. The process of making sheet insulating 1naterial wl1ich consists incoating a web of material with adhesive as it passes over a belt movingat the speed of the web, applying fragments of mica to the adhesive,covering the mica midway of the belt with a second web of material towhich an insulating adhesive is applied, and then drying by heat.

5. The process of making sheet insulating material which consists incoating a web of material with adhesive as it passes over a belt movingat the speed of the web, applying an insulating substance to theadhesive, covering the-same midway of the belt with a second web ofmaterial and then drying by heat.

6. The process of making sheet insulatin material which consists incoating the we% of paper with shellac as it passes over a belt moving atthe speed of the web, applying overlapping fragments of mica to theshellac, covering the mica midway of the belt with a second web of paperand then drying by heat.

' 7. The process of making sheet insulatin material which consists incoating a web 0 paper with shellac as it passes over a belt moving atthe speed of the web, applying overlapping fragments of mica to theshellac, covering the mica midway of the belt with a second web of aper,applying a coating of adhesive to said second web and then drying byheat.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of March,1906.

CHARLES F. PETERSON.

